1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rotating electric machine and a method for manufacturing the same, and more particularly to a coil connecting structure.
2. Related Art
The conventional device with a coil connecting structure for a rotating electric machine was disclosed in the Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication Nos. Hei11-18345 and 2000-333400, for example. Firstly, in the Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication No. Hei11-18345, a conductive member is formed like a strip from a conductive material and has a plurality of terminal pieces on the side face, each terminal piece being jutted through an insertion hole and bent outwards. Also, the terminal piece has a U-character groove on the side face of the strip conductor, and the stator winding has its start end and terminal end fitted into this groove and soldered. Secondly, in the Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-333400, a lead frame is formed like a tape, the tape-like lead frames are placed vertically and laminated in almost concentric circle form with a spacer between frames, and the lead frames with spacers are integrally buried by resin and molded. The lead frame is formed by press, and then fed forward to bend the connection terminal, which is formed with a connection groove of U-character shape for connection with the winding of a motor or an external lead wire.
The above conventional devices have a terminal portion jutting out from the side end portion of the strip conductor in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the strip conductor, the terminal portion having a U-character groove on the side face of the strip conductor.
The conventional device constituted in the above manner had a problem that the yield of material was bad formally in any means, even though the materials were appropriately adopted, because the terminal portion juts out from the side end portion of the strip conductor in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the strip conductor. In particular, when the strip conductor is disposed like a concentric circle to allow the terminal portion to jut out beyond other strip conductors on the inner circumferential side and the outer circumferential side, the terminal portion is lengthened, resulting in a problem that the yield of material is worse. Though the terminal portion has a U-character groove on the side face of the strip conductor, the terminal portion has a contact face with the coil in a plate thickness of the strip conductor, when welded with the coil, resulting in a problem that the large contact area in welding can not be taken for sufficient bonding, and when soldered, a large amount of solder is required, and the heat resistance is lowered to be unsuitable for large current. Therefore, if the plate thickness of the strip conductor is increased, there is a problem that the strip conductor is increased in size and difficult to work. Furthermore, the U-character groove had a problem that the coil is difficult to be inserted into the groove.